Before the Beginning
by The Dragon Gems
Summary: Many of you may know the tales of the Crystal Gems. However, Earth was not the only planet the Gems colonized. Far from Earth exists a planet known as the Barbaric Archipelago. It, too, was once a place of interest to the Homeworld before they were driven away. Unlike Earth, though, it was not a rebel band of Gems that sent them running, but the planet itself.


Many of you may know the tales of the Crystal Gems, the group of Gems that opposed the Homeworld in defense of the planet Earth. However, Earth was not the only planet the Gems colonized. Far from Earth exists a planet known as the Barbaric Archipelago. It, too, was once a place of interest to the Homeworld before they were driven away. Unlike Earth, though, it was not a rebel band of Gems that sent them running, but the planet itself.

* * *

Berk was a rather peaceful island. They hadn't been at war with their fellow Gems in years and life was calm during the time between dragon raids.

The chief of the tribe, Red Topaz, ruled alongside his wife, Dragon Blood Jasper. They were a loving happy couple, though they had been wanting a child since their wedding a few years earlier. When the Nursery Gem in charge of the formation pods finally announced they were next in line to receive a child, they were thrilled. The two quickly set to work preparing for their child. Red commissioned and oversaw the creation of a crib that his child could rest in until the infancy stage was complete and the child would be able to maintain a form. Meanwhile, Jasper was often found outside the formation pod that housed her soon-to-be child, speaking and singing to it as she crafted a small dragon-shaped stuffed toy. Jasper had come to the, according to the other Viking Gems, bizarre and foolish conclusion that the dragons could be reasoned with and peace could be created between them and the Gems.

Months passed in happiness before Red was called away from his duties as Chief to the room off the Great Hall that held the formation pods. He was immediately on guard as it was too soon for the child to be taken out of their pod. When he entered the Formation Room, the Nursery Gem was standing in front of his child's pod, fiddling with the controls as his wife hovered nearby looking frightened. When Jasper noticed him, she ran to Red and buried herself in his arms.

"What's wrong?" Red asked, curling his fingers through his wife's hair, but directing the question to the Nursery Gem.

"We were running a check up when I noticed something odd about it's makeup." The Nursery Gem brought up a diagram that obviously meant something to her but was nonsense to Red and Jasper. She pointed to a part of the diagram and said, "I double checked and - I don't know how, but - organic matter somehow got into the formation pod. Shell pieces, if I'm not mistaken."

"Organic matter," Red sighed, holding his wife tighter.

"Yes, and not the small amounts that would be expected from a pearl or jet, I'm afraid. You know what this means, chief."

Red nodded. That he did. Organic matter couldn't survive the formation process. Small amounts were okay and were usually stabilized by the rest of the Gem's makeup. Large amounts, on the other hand, couldn't be supported. The organic matter would disintegrate the moment the formation pod was opened and the Gem would collapse. All things considered, the Gem inside the pod was already dead, which meant they couldn't waste the energy or the pod on it. He tucked his wife's head under his chin and told the Nursery Gem, "Do it."

She turned back to the pod and started the process of opening it so the inside could be cleaned out and a new formation process could begin. "Chief, you are still technically next in line. If you want the next child to finish formation, it will be a few weeks later than this one had been expected, but it would still be yours by right."

Red didn't have a chance to say anything before Jasper hissed, "I will not take a child from their parents just to soothe my own pain."

Smiling sadly, Red pressed a kiss to his wife's forehead. "Aye, that child's already been claimed. We will not take them."

The Nursery Gem smiled and nodded, turning away from the controls as the pod began to open. "As you wish, Chief. I'll put you down for the next unclaimed child then."

"Thank you," he said, turning Jasper away and leading her out of the cave. They paused at the entrance when a gasp sounded behind them.

"Chief," the Nursery Gem called and Red and Jasper turned to see her facing them with a shocked expression on her face. In her hands she cradled the little Gem. "They're alive!"

Red pulled away from his wife and came over to look down at the new-formed Gem. The red stone was in the shape of a diamond and had a pattern like rough dragon skin, though their surface was smooth to the touch when Red brushed his thumb over it.

When Red brushed his thumb over the Gem, he could also feel the small pulse from within that spoke of life and resting.

"How is this possible?"

"I don't know," she said, glancing at Jasper as she came up to see the new-formed Gem for herself. "I suppose there might have been some element in the shells I overlooked that helped keep the organic matter stable, but... It doesn't make sense."

Jasper gently took the child from the Nursery Gem. "They're alive," she cooed, stroking the Gem with her thumb. She brought them up to her lips and kissed the stone before pressing them against her cheek. "You're alive," she whispered, tears forming in her eyes.

The Nursery Gem shifted her weight nervously before placing a hand on Red's shoulder. "I do not think it would be wise to become attached. We still do not know what effect the organic matter will have on their stability, let alone if they'll survive having been removed from the pod so early."

Jasper lowered the Gem to her chest and once again looked at her husband with frightened eyes. The warning had come too late.

Red knew the Nursery Gem was right, there was no telling how long the new-formed Gem would survive. It very well could have been dying in his wife's hands at that very second. But with those eyes on him...

He wrapped his hands around Jasper's and pressed a kiss to her lips. He knelt to press another kiss to her stone on her hip before looking up into her eyes. "They will be the strongest of us all."

Despite the warning, Ammolite, as the new-formed Gem was named, showed no signs of fading. The tribe's elder and best healer often checked up on the young Gem. Although it took a bit longer for him to create a form than was usual and he couldn't hold it as long as he should have been able to, that could easily be put down to his early removal from the pod. Otherwise, he was healthy and stable.

Time passed and Ammolite got better at creating and maintaining his form, though he still "slept" more often than he should have needed too.

* * *

The dragons had come to raid Berk once more, trying to steal away the sheep whose wool the Gems used to furnish their homes, the yaks who helped them farm the crystals the Gems needed to survive, and even those very same crystals. Red did his part as chief, leading the counterattack and slicing at Dragons with the axe he had drawn out of the stone on his shoulder. Jasper was running about the fray as well, sticking as close to the house where her year old son rested as she could while still trying to stop the dragons and Gems from killing one another. Her form staticed when she heard a crash behind her and turned just in time to see the tail of a dragon disappear inside her home through the torn remains of the roof.

She rushed to the house, hoping with everything she was that her son was resting and the dragon wouldn't notice him. As soon as she reached the house she rushed through the door, pulled her javelin out of her gem, and swerved around the column that separated her from her son. She raised the javelin, ready to fight to defend her child, except...

Her son wasn't resting. He was out of his stone and giggling up at the dragon that looked down at him. The dragon, instead of growling at or attacking the young Gem, was holding a wing over the boy, purring down at him as the boy tried to grab the clawed tip. Jasper lowered her weapon and watched as the dragon gently moved its claw close enough for the boy to grab it.

Jasper couldn't believe it. She had been right. Everything she had thought about the dragons - every hope that they could be peaceful, kind creatures, friends to the gems - had been right. The proof was right in front of her.

The javelin fell from her hands without her realizing she had let it go. The clatter it made before dispersing surprised the dragon and drew its attention to her. As it turned, it accidentally scratched a crescent shaped mark into the stone on Ammolite's leg.

Her son immediately cried out, red dots appearing on his cheeks, but Jasper couldn't go to him as the dragon stalked up to her, causing her to back away. As her son retreated into his stone, the mother could do nothing but stare into the eyes of not a mindless beast, but an intelligent creature; one whose soul reflected her own.

Her vision was cut off when an axe sliced through the air between herself and the dragon and sunk into the column next to her.

"Jasper, run!"

The dragon immediately counterattacked, shooting fire at the Gem that had needlessly come to Jasper's rescue.

"No, don't," she shouted, whether at her husband or the dragon, she wasn't sure. Perhaps both.

She placed her hands on the dragon's wings, drawing its attention.

"Hold on," Red shouted, dodging though the flames to grab his son.

The dragon glanced towards the crib. Seeing the child being snatched up, he settled for taking Jasper in his claws and fleeing into the sky.

* * *

 _ **Things to keep in mind:**_

 _ **Like in the show, all the Gems are agender. The only difference is that not all the gems use she/her pronouns.**_

 _ **My theory is that the Gems that are based on organic gemstones (like Pearl in the show) are Gems that were contaminated by organic matter while forming. As a result, organic Gems are discriminated against in Gem society.**_

 _ **A Gem saying their form staticed is equivalent to someone saying their heart stopped.**_


End file.
